--- Quote from: TootsNYC on June 15, 2013, 09:37:00 AM ------ Quote from: gellchom on June 14, 2013, 10:39:58 PM ---The viewpoint that it is rude to knock without calling first makes me laugh, though, because what do you suppose people did before telephones? When phones came along, they were seen as poor substitutes for physically showing up. Reminds me of how engraving was seen as a substitute for handwriting, but now people think of it as superior. And now my daughter's generation is annoyed by a telephone call instead of a text.

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In the past, they called ONLY during accepted "visiting hours," and the butler answered the door and said "madam is not at home" if she didn't want to bother with that person or was in the middle of something important.

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Oh, Toots, I knew someone (with your level of expertise!) was going to write that. :). Yes, that was true, but of course only of a small segment of society during a limited era.